Lula hugs his wife Rosangela after learning of the victory
Brazilian politics has turned to the left again. Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential election.
In a polarized election that saw two rivals at opposite ends of the political spectrum confront each other, Lula won 50.9 percent of the vote.
That amount of votes was enough to beat Bolsonaro, whose backers had previously been confident he would win.
However, the tear highlighted by these elections does not seem to fade.
With a shocking return, Lula did not participate in the last presidential election of 2018 because he was in prison and barred from running for office.
He was then convicted of accepting a bribe from a Brazilian construction company in exchange for a contract with Petrobras.
Lula spent 580 days in prison before her verdict was invalidated and she returned to the political struggle.
“They wanted to bury me alive, but now I’m back,” he said at the start of his victory speech.
Opinion polls at the start of the election suggested he would win, but when his lead in the first round of voting fell far short of expectations, many Brazilians began to question the accuracy of the polls.
Jair Bolsonaro downplayed his support by accusing “the establishment” and the media of opposing him. Encouraged by his words, his supporters have full confidence in his victory.
The left-wing leader’s victory could be a source of resentment among Bolsonaro’s supporters, who often label Lula a “thief” and claim his sentence has been overturned, which doesn’t mean he’s innocent, just that he’s innocent. following a correct judicial process.
And while Bolsonaro lost, lawmakers close to him won a majority in Congress, which means Lula’s policies will face firm opposition in the legislature.
But Lula, who led two governments from January 2003 to December 2010, is a veteran of alliance building in politics.
His running mate for the vice-presidency was previous opponent Geraldo Alckmin, who had run against Lula in the previous elections.
His strategy of playing the “solidarity” card seemed to work, leading those who had not thought of doing so to vote for his Labor party.
In his victory speech, he used a conciliatory tone, arguing that he would rule for all Brazilians, not just those who voted for him.
“This country needs peace and unity. The people in this country don’t want to fight anymore,” he said.
Bolsonaro has not yet conceded defeat. The rush was so hot in part because the far-right president questioned the reliability of Brazil’s e-voting system, without offering any evidence.
This has led to fears that he may not accept if the outcome is not in his favor.
However, the day before the second round, he said: “There is no doubt. Whoever gets the most votes wins. That’s what democracy is.”
On election day, a bus transporting voters to the polling station was stopped by police, which Lula’s camp said was an attempt to prevent them from voting.
Electoral Court President Alexandre de Moraes ordered the traffic police to remove all roadblocks and checkpoints.
He said that while some voters were detained, none were prevented from voting for this reason. However, these events have greatly intensified the tensions.
Now, many are waiting to see when Bolsonaro will officially admit that he was not up to Lula and what he will say then.
The elections were closely followed not only in Brazil but also abroad. Environmental activists, in particular, fear that another four years of Bolsonaro’s rule will lead to further deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Lula alluded to that fear in his victory speech, saying he was “open to international cooperation to protect the Amazon”.
“Today we tell the world that Brazil is back. It is so big that it cannot be relegated to a sad role as a global pariah,” he said, briefly disdaining his opponent.
However, his speech focused on efforts to fight hunger, a growing problem in Brazil that affects over 33 million people.
Lula’s popularity during his previous two terms in power was instrumental in helping millions of Brazilians out of poverty.
But in a post-pandemic economy, finding the financial resources to replicate that performance won’t be easy, especially if thwarted by a hostile Congress.
